My parents were coming across the state. We planned to celebrate August birthdays and get in some more summertime together.
Friday evening we listened to the talented folk musician Sue West, and lounged about at the Raw Deal sipping wine and coffee drinks, sharing stories, hugs, laughter, and holding babies.
We ordered the traditional Friday evening fish fry feast from a happy little bar down the street and sat outside next to (seemingly) neon flowers at dusk. It really was perfect.
I had a coffee date in the morning with a friend from back in the day. It was mentioned that we had a family meeting at 11a the following morning. "Where?" I asked. "At your home," responded the person who should not have said anything. "I will be there."
The night ended and we went our separate ways.
...I am a planner. Yes, I like control, although I am working my darnedest to release a grasp of 'needing to have it all laid out.' I am trying. So, this weekend was approaching, and I was making a sincere effort to NOT plan...
My mind wondered around the best and worst about this family meeting. I do have the tendency to jump to extremes. Needless to say I tried to still my very awake brain.
The next morning at coffee the conversation spilled over and I left later that I should have. I again tried to be loose and carefree with the minutes that kept changing on my dashboard.
Returning to the home, I made note of the situation. Dad was reading in the front lawn, Mom was caring for babies, Ryan was reading on the deck, Amber was overly interested in the day-old doughnut holes I brought back and she needed scissors, Mel and Emily were not there yet. I tried not to be too caught up on the time, but I was late to the family meeting and they didn't seem to mind. I put the doughnuts in a pretty bowl, waited for Ryan to finish the last two pages of his book and went into meeting mindset.
All who were present gathered under a large tree in the yard... some sitting, others standing, one being held. I had a couple of announcements prior to the start. "HaGafen should probably get some dog-park time in before too long." And. "If anyone wants to attend the fly-in breakfast, I found out that it is from 7-11 tomorrow morning." Ok, that's all I had to share prior to the start-up.
They then looked as Ryan and I and said things like "congratulations," "we are so very proud of you," and a bunch of stuff that I can't recall from the endorphin filled state I was in. We were given crowns and a 'diploma' clue. I wept. We smiled. We laughed. I cried more. We were so very surprised. I love meetings but I certainly was no longer in a meeting mood at that point.
It is now August. I am quite surprised that the summer went by as quickly as it did. I have to be careful to not bring up in conversation that we moved from the California beaches to this area in just June of this year. People get jealous, or annoyed, it seems. For these Wisconsin folk, it snowed 21 inches in May and most already feel like the summer did a lousy job showing it's sun-kisses.
